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I wasn’t able to fit in a cycle tour
in May as I was on a walking trip on Outer Hebrides early in the
month. I’ve only visited Ireland once in my life and that was a
walking trip to Macgillycuddy's Reeks many years ago. Today I am
going back but this time on my bike. The best plan seemed to be the
Birkenhead to Belfast overnight ferry. The ferry wasn’t due to leave
till 22:30 with a 21:30 last check in. I didn’t want to take any
chances and get caught in the Liverpool rush hour commuters so I
cycled to Leyland Railway Station in warm sunshine to catch the
16:36 to Lime Street Station. |
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As I knew the train would be from
platform 2 I left my bike at the top of the pedestrian gantry then
walked to the ticket office by platform 1. The return was £11.60.
The only way to platform 2 is down the steep steps which I managed
with difficulty using both brakes to do it one step at a time. There
is no wheelchair access. The train was on time and I had the bike
area to myself. All was going well until after Warringtton when we
stopped because of signalling problems. We were delayed about 15mins
in total after several stop starts. At Lime St I knew I’d have to
take my bike down the lift to the Wirral Line. |
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The only problem is
that the lift will only take one bike and a few people. I had to let
several people go before me and wait for the lift to come back up. I
reached the Wirral line and only had a few minutes ride to Hamilton
Square Station at Birkenhead. I found a very small lift to get me up
a level but it was so tight I could only just squeeze my bike in. To
get out I had to take one of the front panniers off to move the
front wheel out of the door. Another much larger lift took me to
street level. Outside I cycled to the seafront where the full size
replica of the Resurgam submarine is. |
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As I sat eating my sandwiches
I watched the Stena Line ferry coming in from Belfast, Ireland, the
same ferry I’d soon be getting on. I cycled along the old abandoned
dock and shipyard areas to the Stena Terminal and the departures
building. I was too early for check in so waited. When I did check
in I showed my on-line booking confirmation and was handed a small
ticket. I’d made the booking earlier in the month on-line. Unlike
Calmac, Stena make a £10 each way charge for bikes. The cost for me
was £20 outward on the overnight and £10 back on the day ferry.
Making £70 in total. The method of transporting a bike was chaotic.
When I asked at departures I was told to wheel it through the
pedestrian area and it go on a trailer to the ship. I saw a trailer
outside with a baggage compartment and primitive bike rack but the
passenger bus didn’t have a tow bar. |
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I waited for a couple of bus
loads to be taken to the ship then when the bus returned for me the
driver just said wheel it on the bus, which made sense as there was
plenty of room. The bus reversed into the ferry and we all got off.
On the bottom deck was a primitive frame to put a bike wheel in but
I told the man it was useless so tied it to a stanchion as I
normally do in Calmac ferries. The ship was so large that an
escalator was built in to get to the top deck. First impressions
weren’t good as the whole place had the look of a casino. Every
table had a menu on it, encouraging you to buy food and everywhere
were large TV screens showing the world cup football games. I found
a table near the bow and tried to get some sleep. I’d brought my
front pannier up with my sleeping bag in and later slept on the
floor. |
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On board
the ferry it was more like a casino |
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Return to
Whittle Wanderer
